At-large Springfield City Councilor Justin Hurst said Thursday that City Solicitor Edward Pikula "should be fired," claiming that Pikula has blatantly failed to advise Mayor Domenic J. Sarno to enforce the Springfield residency requirement for employees.

(THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

SPRINGFIELD — At-large City Councilor Justin Hurst said Thursday that City Solicitor Edward Pikula "should be fired," claiming that Pikula has failed to advise Mayor Domenic J. Sarno to enforce the city's employee residency requirement. Hurst's comments come just days after 10 Springfield residents filed a civil lawsuit in Hampden Superior Court, accusing city officials of failing to enforce the residency ordinance against six district fire chiefs and Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Guyer, who they said live outside the city. "The consistent gross mismanagement and, very likely, but not unusual, questionable behavior of attorney Pikula has left hardworking taxpayers in this city on the hook to potentially foot the bill for a lawsuit that he walked us right into," Hurst said. "I hate to say 'I told you so,' but I did, and it was inevitable that this day was coming." Pikula said the comment from Hurst that he should be fired is the first he has heard of it. "I am more than willing to speak to him personally to review any concerns he may have," Pikula said. Sarno said he has "complete and total confidence in City Solicitor Ed Pikula." "He has served this city with distinction and has handled some of the most complex and difficult issues and projects ever undertaken by our city," Sarno said. Regarding the lawsuit, Pikula said it will be reviewed and a response will be filed in court. "It is likely that a motion to dismiss will be filed as, preliminarily, the lawsuit does not appear to have any legal merit," Pikula said. Hurst said Pikula "chose to ignore the law and promote obfuscation in order to appease the mayor." "He (Pikula) seems to not understand that his job is to look out for the best interest of the city even if it means the mayor must alter his agenda," Hurst said. "It is extremely disappointing that 10 citizens have to sue the city to force the administration to do what they knew was right all along." Six of the eight district fire chiefs in Springfield live outside the city, according to records. The 10 residents who filed suit against the city included Springfield fire captains Marc Savage and Curt Marcellin, both Springfield residents. Savage passed promotional examinations for both district chief and deputy chief and "ranks on the district chief's list," according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that there has been "a long-standing history in the city of Springfield, particularly in the ranks of the fire department, of ignoring the city ordinance's residency requirement." At-large Councilor Bud Williams recently sponsored an amendment to the residency ordinance that prohibits the mayor from granting any new waivers to city department heads or deputy directors. "As long as the mayor continues to arbitrarily refuse to enforce the law when it is to his advantage, then the city will continue to subject itself to litigation," Williams said. "This is not a dictatorship. The City Council makes the laws, and we rely on the administration to enforce them." Hurst said the issue is precisely why the City Council needs to have its own, independent attorney, and is asking co-members of the council to make that a priority. "You don't have to be an attorney to figure this one out," Hurst said. "It is obvious that the city of Springfield does not have a leg to stand on in this lawsuit, which is why I encouraged them to resolve this issue a long time ago." PIkula and William Mahoney, the city's director of human resources and labor relations, recently urged city councilors to let the city resolve the residency issue with the district fire chiefs at the bargaining table. The city does believe the residency ordinance applies to the district chiefs, but that is disputed by the Fire Chiefs Association of Springfield, which represents the district chiefs. Guyer is not represented by a union as a deputy chief. Asked if he needs to move to Springfield, Mahoney recently responded that "under the ordinance employees upon promotion have one year to establish residency." Guyer is listed as having been promoted to deputy fire chief in November of 2015.